Mystery Attack On Ships In UAE May Have Been Designed To Prompt Regional Escalation

The mysterious sabotage against oil tankers in UAE waters adds to the existing tensions between Tehran and Washington, as well as between Iran and Gulf countries, and may have been designed to provoke escalation in the region, although it is unclear who orchestrated the attack, experts told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2019) The mysterious sabotage against oil tankers in UAE waters adds to the existing tensions between Tehran and Washington, as well as between Iran and Gulf countries, and may have been designed to provoke escalation in the region, although it is unclear who orchestrated the attack, experts told Sputnik.

On Sunday, reports emerged of several explosions in the UAE port of Fujairah, after a fire broke out, engulfing several oil tankers, but the UAE government quickly clarified that there were no blasts or a big fire in the port.

However, later in the day, the UAE Foreign Ministry said that four merchant ships had been subject to "sabotage operations" near the port. There were no injuries or fatalities aboard the vessels, and no spillage of harmful chemicals or fuel took place, the official Emirates News Agency reported, citing the Foreign Ministry's statement.

Two of the targeted vessels were Saudi oil tankers, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Falih confirmed on Monday. According to the Saudi Press Agency, one of the two vessels was on its way to Ras Tanura port to be loaded with Saudi crude aimed for Saudi Aramco's customers in the United States. The attack did not inflict casualties or oil spill, but damaged the structure of the oil tankers, the media outlet said.

Another tanker that suffered in the incident may have been a vessel of Singapore-based Thome Ship Management, according to media reports.

The incident in the Gulf of Oman came amid heightened US-Iranian tensions. There has been no direct indication so far of who was responsible for the sabotage, but US President Donald Trump vowed already that Iran would suffer a "bad problem" if it decided to attack any oil tankers in the Middle East.

The incident points to the "volatility of the US-Iranian standoff, potentially drifting toward a direct military confrontation," Imad Salamey, the associate professor of Political Science and director of the Institute for Social Justice and Conflict Resolution at The Lebanese American University, told Sputnik.

"Fingers are pointing toward Iran for responsibility, which is straining further relations between Iran and Gulf States ... As Iran feels the weight of sanctions and oil embargo it will be destined to choose between two routes: diplomatic negotiations or open confrontations. The latter option may begin by limited interruptions and irritation of passages through the Strait of Hormuz and eventually attempting at total blockage," Salamey said.

The US-Iranian tensions were further stoked earlier this month as US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that the United States was deploying its carrier strike group near Iran. According to Axios outlet, senior Israeli officials had told Bolton of an alleged Iranian plot to attack US targets or allies in the Gulf region.

Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, said he found the development somewhat suspicious.

"I personally think that the fact that Israelis gave the so-called intelligence to Bolton and almost immediately this attack happened � I find it very convenient and makes me so suspicious about the attack and that it could have been a false-flag operation," Marandi told Sputnik.

According to Wall Street Journal, Iranian officials said Tuesday that the US administration was trying to pin the blame for the attack on Iran and drag it into the war.

Marandi remarked that the attack had a "negative impact," but added that it was still unclear who was responsible.

"We have to see who carried the attack out and for what reason. It could have been Al-Qaeda [a terrorist organization banned in Russia] in Yemen and they have strong relationship with Saudis and Emiratis. Al- Qaeda could have done it on its own in order to increase tensions. It could have been the Houthis in response to many bombing raids," Marandi said.

The University of Tehran professor pointed out that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had "strained relationship with everyone in the region."

"They have zero relations with Qatar, poor relations with Oman, very poor relations with Iraq and Syria, and of course they are waging the war against Yemen. They have poor relations with Lebanon and of course problems with Iran as well," Marandi said.

According to the expert, Iran is not to blame for the attack.

"Obviously it wasn't carried out by Iran. This attack was designed to increase tensions in the region," Marandi said.

The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Zayani, condemned on Monday acts of sabotage, while EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Brussels was still collecting information about the attack and worried about a potential regional escalation.